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That is a pretty limited view of what blockchains solve these days. This reads like someone looked into Bitcoin once ten years ago and then applied that to ever

by bogota 5y ago

That is a pretty limited view of what blockchains solve these days. This reads like someone looked into Bitcoin once ten years ago and then applied that to everything that came after it. You don’t have to be interested in it but I hardly find this blog as a compelling or well thought out reason for finding them boring. It’s more like a reason for why you want to stay ignorant about the tech which no one asked you to know about in the first place.

Jdixnxjsj3 5y ago
What problems do blockchains solve these days vs ten years ago?
- dilyevsky 5y ago
  Ransomware payment
  - SAI_Peregrinus 5y ago
    You mean "distributed involuntary bug bounties". /s
- BozeWolf 5y ago
  It is not about the problems it solves now. It is about the potential it has to solve problems……
  - dkersten 5y ago
    What problems does it have the potential to solve?
  - danShumway 5y ago
    This is kind of the article's point though, because there are other federated/decentralized efforts going on outside of blockchains that do solve problems now. Having the potential to solve problems possibly in the future isn't that special, lots of things have the potential to solve problems eventually. The questions are: - how long will it take to solve those problems? - how much effort will it be? - how likely is it to succeed? - are there other efforts that are more promising? - what are the costs/downsides associated? - etc... And when you start asking those practical questions about the real world, and not just thinking about "maybe this will be great someday", then cryptocurrencies start to look a lot less attractive.
    - BozeWolf 5y ago
      Apparently the six dots at the end of my reply where not clear enough of an indication that this was sarcasm, a joke. A bad joke. Ah well.
woodruffw 5y ago
You're right that I don't keep up with it. The post is an explanation of why I don't: I look into how things are progressing every once in a while, and none of the things I want are solved. Consider me a lazy consumer, waiting for my niche(s) to be filled.
- latchkey 5y ago
  So in the meantime, you'll bitch about things and post it to HN. Why? Personal gratification? You're a "security researcher" who doesn't care about arguably one of the more interesting security problems on the planet. Once again, HN doesn't disappoint. As a community, we continue to promote solutions to technology problems, but as soon as it involves finances, we draw the line in the sand and don't dare cross it.
  - woodruffw 5y ago
    It's my professional opinion that the proactive side of security should be as boring as possible. Not that I don't get a kick out of my work, of course.
    - latchkey 5y ago
      Boring != Lazy
      - woodruffw 5y ago
        I’m not sure where the two were equivocated? I’m both lazy and I think security should be boring, but they’re not the same thing.
  - rvz 5y ago
    > You're a "security researcher" who doesn't care about arguably one of the more interesting security problems on the planet. Well if the author of the post really hated cryptocurrencies and being a 'security researcher' as well, just find the bugs inside the cryptocurrency industry (exchanges, smart contracts, etc) and then highlight these bugs in your post as to why cryptocurrencies still have a long way to go. Maybe then the author might be taken a bit more seriously when it comes to that. After all, one even said they are so called 'self-paying bug bounties' [0] A great way to show the world that these systems are still in their infancy. > as soon as it involves finances, we draw the line in the sand and don't dare cross it. Just don't ask about stocks, cryptocurrencies or investing on HN. This is why. [1] [2] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29451300 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29451300 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29355360 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29355360 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28809235 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28809235
diveanon 5y ago
It really does boil down to a bunch of ignorant hot takes thrown around to convince each other that they are morally superior for maintaining an uninformed skepticism presented in bad faith.
bluecalm 5y ago
It's like arguing with people who believe in their system to win at lotteries: "you can't criticize it until you understand every little detail". MLM proponents use the same argument: look at this amazing double binary balanced pyramid and 10 pages of detailed description of how pay-offs work when you recruit people to the left and right branches underneath you. With those as with crypto you are better off taking a view from above. The only problem crypto solves is going around regulation. It's a sleight of hand, if you convert dollars to tokens suddenly regulators won't go after you. This and 101 ways of trading imaginary tokens hoping there is going to be a bigger sucker or that you won't be the last to sell. To increase chances of either happening you scream: "it's still early", "diamond hands" and "hodl!" creating a sense of companionship to promote behaviors that increase your chances to cash out before the whole thing collapses.
actually_a_dog 5y ago
> That is a pretty limited view of what blockchains solve these days. This reads like someone looked into Bitcoin once ten years ago and then applied that to everything that came after it. I didn't take it that way. I interpreted it as the author's personal list of "stuff I wish cryptocurrencies could do for me today." And, of that list, micropayments stuck out to me as a problem people have really, really wanted to solve for a long time, but just can't manage to make a solution work yet. Of course, the problem of micropayments effectively reduces to the problem of reducing transaction costs to a point where it becomes feasible to pay someone 5..10..50 cents without having to pay the payment processor an equal or near equal amount. But, that, unfortunately, seems like less of a technical problem and more of a social problem, which makes it a Hard Problem(tm).

by bogota 5y ago

Jdixnxjsj3 5y ago

What problems do blockchains solve these days vs ten years ago?

dilyevsky 5y ago
Ransomware payment
- SAI_Peregrinus 5y ago
  You mean "distributed involuntary bug bounties". /s
BozeWolf 5y ago
It is not about the problems it solves now. It is about the potential it has to solve problems……
- dkersten 5y ago
  What problems does it have the potential to solve?
- danShumway 5y ago
  This is kind of the article's point though, because there are other federated/decentralized efforts going on outside of blockchains that do solve problems now. Having the potential to solve problems possibly in the future isn't that special, lots of things have the potential to solve problems eventually. The questions are: - how long will it take to solve those problems? - how much effort will it be? - how likely is it to succeed? - are there other efforts that are more promising? - what are the costs/downsides associated? - etc... And when you start asking those practical questions about the real world, and not just thinking about "maybe this will be great someday", then cryptocurrencies start to look a lot less attractive.
  - BozeWolf 5y ago
    Apparently the six dots at the end of my reply where not clear enough of an indication that this was sarcasm, a joke. A bad joke. Ah well.

woodruffw 5y ago

You're right that I don't keep up with it. The post is an explanation of why I don't: I look into how things are progressing every once in a while, and none of the things I want are solved. Consider me a lazy consumer, waiting for my niche(s) to be filled.

latchkey 5y ago
So in the meantime, you'll bitch about things and post it to HN. Why? Personal gratification? You're a "security researcher" who doesn't care about arguably one of the more interesting security problems on the planet. Once again, HN doesn't disappoint. As a community, we continue to promote solutions to technology problems, but as soon as it involves finances, we draw the line in the sand and don't dare cross it.
- woodruffw 5y ago
  It's my professional opinion that the proactive side of security should be as boring as possible. Not that I don't get a kick out of my work, of course.
  - latchkey 5y ago
    Boring != Lazy
    - woodruffw 5y ago
      I’m not sure where the two were equivocated? I’m both lazy and I think security should be boring, but they’re not the same thing.
- rvz 5y ago
  > You're a "security researcher" who doesn't care about arguably one of the more interesting security problems on the planet. Well if the author of the post really hated cryptocurrencies and being a 'security researcher' as well, just find the bugs inside the cryptocurrency industry (exchanges, smart contracts, etc) and then highlight these bugs in your post as to why cryptocurrencies still have a long way to go. Maybe then the author might be taken a bit more seriously when it comes to that. After all, one even said they are so called 'self-paying bug bounties' [0] A great way to show the world that these systems are still in their infancy. > as soon as it involves finances, we draw the line in the sand and don't dare cross it. Just don't ask about stocks, cryptocurrencies or investing on HN. This is why. [1] [2] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29451300 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29451300 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29355360 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29355360 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28809235 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28809235

diveanon 5y ago

It really does boil down to a bunch of ignorant hot takes thrown around to convince each other that they are morally superior for maintaining an uninformed skepticism presented in bad faith.

bluecalm 5y ago

It's like arguing with people who believe in their system to win at lotteries: "you can't criticize it until you understand every little detail". MLM proponents use the same argument: look at this amazing double binary balanced pyramid and 10 pages of detailed description of how pay-offs work when you recruit people to the left and right branches underneath you. With those as with crypto you are better off taking a view from above. The only problem crypto solves is going around regulation. It's a sleight of hand, if you convert dollars to tokens suddenly regulators won't go after you. This and 101 ways of trading imaginary tokens hoping there is going to be a bigger sucker or that you won't be the last to sell. To increase chances of either happening you scream: "it's still early", "diamond hands" and "hodl!" creating a sense of companionship to promote behaviors that increase your chances to cash out before the whole thing collapses.

actually_a_dog 5y ago

> That is a pretty limited view of what blockchains solve these days. This reads like someone looked into Bitcoin once ten years ago and then applied that to everything that came after it. I didn't take it that way. I interpreted it as the author's personal list of "stuff I wish cryptocurrencies could do for me today." And, of that list, micropayments stuck out to me as a problem people have really, really wanted to solve for a long time, but just can't manage to make a solution work yet. Of course, the problem of micropayments effectively reduces to the problem of reducing transaction costs to a point where it becomes feasible to pay someone 5..10..50 cents without having to pay the payment processor an equal or near equal amount. But, that, unfortunately, seems like less of a technical problem and more of a social problem, which makes it a Hard Problem(tm).